to solve or to solve it?

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joham

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The following problem is missing some of the information
that you will need to solve it.

Is the last word 'it' needed?

Thank you in advance.
 

bhaisahab

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The following problem is missing some of the information
that you will need to solve it.

Is the last word 'it' needed?

Thank you in advance.
Try rewriting it like this: "Some of the information needed to solve the following problem is missing".
 

joham

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Chinese
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Current Location
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Thanks, bhaisahab. I've now got the meaning of the sentence but am still confused about how the sentence is constructed. Can I see it this way:

The following problem is missing some of the information
so that you will need to solve it.

Thank you again.
 

bhaisahab

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Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Thanks, bhaisahab. I've now got the meaning of the sentence but am still confused about how the sentence is constructed. Can I see it this way:

The following problem is missing some of the information
so that you will need to solve it.

Thank you again.
It means that the problem cannot be solved, because some of the information necessary to solve it is missing.
 

JTRiff

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Mar 30, 2011
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Netherlands
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The following problem is missing some of the information
that you will need to solve it.

Yes, it does need it - or else it says that you need to solve 'the information', which doesn't make sense.
It - is the problem, and it's only missing part of the information needed to solve it, so perhaps you are supposed to be able to solve it.
 
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